Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa. / Markell Deloatch, Gannett

by Fredreka Schouten and Christopher Schnaars, USA TODAY

by Fredreka Schouten and Christopher Schnaars, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON â?? In the first three months of this Congress, newly installed House committee chairmen collectively saw a 74% increase in donations from special-interest political action committees from the same period in the last Congress, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

Many of the PACs represent industries the chairmen now oversee.

"The chairmen are the most important people in the House in terms of moving on legislation and one of the ways to get close to them is to contribute to their campaigns," said Bill Allison, who tracks political money for the Sunlight Foundation, a non-partisan watchdog group.

Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., who took over the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in January, has received $302,600 from PACs so far this year, more than five times the $59,100 he collected from such committees during the first three months of 2011. (His father, ex-congressman Bud Shuster, was the committee's chairman in the late 1990s.)

In all, PAC donations account for more than 60% of the campaign money Shuster has reported raising this year. This money comes from all sectors of the nation's transportation industry â?? ranging from employees of major airlines and cruise-ship companies to rail companies. Shuster's panel is scheduled to take up a rail bill this year.

Shuster's aides did not respond to interview requests.

USA TODAY examined campaign finance reports filed recently with the Federal Election Commission for nine House lawmakers who assumed new committee chairmanships in the Republican-controlled House in January.

Together, they collected $2.8 million in all campaign contributions during the first quarter of this year, up from nearly $1.9 million during the first three months of 2011. PAC contributions accounted for $1.3 million this year, up from $740,000 two years ago.

In the House, the Republican majority has imposed a six-year term limit on chairpersons, creating openings when Congress convened anew in January. Only Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republicans' 2012 vice presidential nominee, received a waiver to continue serving atop the House Budget committee after his term expired.

In the Democratic-controlled Senate, no term limits are imposed. In the cases where committees have changed leaders, none of the new committee chairmen is up for re-election in 2014.

The filings of new House chairmen also show:

â?¢ Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, had the second-largest fundraising haul from PACs behind Shuster during the first quarter. Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, raised $261,500 from political action committees in the first three months of 2013. That's up from $153,000 two years earlier.

PACs giving to Hensarling include the American Bankers Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Quicken Loans.

"We believe that those who have supported Congressman Hensarling throughout his time in Congress have done so because they believe in the principles of free enterprise and freedom that he has consistently advanced," Andrew Duke, Hensarling's chief of staff, said in a statement.

â?¢ Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, saw his PAC donations more than triple to nearly $175,000 during the period examined.

The committee's jurisdiction ranges from federal bankruptcy and antitrust laws to immigration policy, firearms regulation and trademark protections. Political action committees giving to Goodlatte this year include the National Rifle Association, Sony Pictures and Major League Baseball.

He did not respond to interview requests.

Some committee heads saw their PAC contributions drop:

â?¢ Michigan Rep. Candice Miller, the only woman chairing a House committee, oversees the House Administration Committee, which deals with the chamber's internal operations. Her PAC contributions so far this year total $28,000, down from $40,000 two years earlier. Her aides did not return telephone calls.

The trucking industry, which is pushing federal regulators to increase the 80,000-pound weight limit for five-axle trucks on the interstate highway system, is among Shuster's early donors. (Increasing the weight limit would allow businesses to move more goods across state lines with fewer trucks. Critics say heavier trucks would cause more damage to roads and bridges,)

The American Trucking Associations' PAC gave $9,000 to Shuster's campaign during the first three months of this year. Its president, William Graves, donated an additional $1,500.

"There's no secret that we'd like to see favorable things come out of the committee," said Sean McNally, a spokesman for the trucking group."But we've been longtime supporters of him and his father.

"He's been a supporter of ours in the past, so we are supporting him."